Dye over a Dark Hair Dye
Can't get rid of that murky black residing in your locks? Read on..
Contents
Steps
- Wash your hair. If you've just dyed your hair and it's too dark, the best thing you can do for your hair is wash repeatedly with an anti dandruff shampoo,. It will take the matte colour out and lighten you up a bit first - anything to avoid chemicals is something you should get very excited about if you want your hair to stay healthy.
- Buy a good quality hair colour remover. If you've had dark dye in for quite some time and you're having trouble getting any other colour, you need to spend some cash, not a lot, but you will need to invest in a QUALITY 'hair colour remover' that takes the false pigment out of your tresses. Goldwell have a great colour remover but their stock is hard to find outside of a salon. Most pharmacies and beauty stores will stock removers, just be sure the ingredients don't sound too harsh. One pointer is to try to avoid products that contain a lot of 'hydrogen peroxide' - go for boxes that contain HP in a low volume.
- Don't bleach your hair. EVER. Not only are the chemicals really bad for you to be breathing in and absorbing through your pores, you WILL kill your hair. It will dry up like cotton wool, snap off and fall out. You may as well be setting fire to it.
- So, pop in your colour remover, if you have black hair you'll end up with a mousy brown, brown hair and you'll end up orangey.. but hey, we're getting rid of that black! sacrifice!
- Select your new hair colour (Wisely!) and apply. It is well worth reading up on selecting DIY hair colours, how they work and never to gauge the outcome by those little diagrams on the box! Unless your hair is platinum blonde to start with, you will never get the result on the box. Always select something around 2 shades lighter than what you're after - so look at the picture on the box and imagine it a few tones darker and you have a better idea. Most colours you buy at retailers don't lighten unless they are specific 'pre-lighteners' or blonding kits, they simply put a layer over your existing colour. (On the note of the 'pre-lightener' - it is just a fancy name for a bleaching kit - and you know how I feel about this! Run in the opposite direction)
- Because now you NEED to give your hair some major TLC, splash out on some really lush conditioner, and a really mild colour preserving shampoo. When I dye, I buy treatment masks by John Frieda, also Andrew Collinge 3 Minute Miracle is good, Klorane Mango Butter conditioner and because I'm a (fake) redhead John Frieda's Radiant Red conditioner, as it gives you a little colour boost each time you use it and makes your hair nice and shiny. I know this sounds like I'm trying to sell products here, but I'm not, I simply know what works and what doesn't through lots of trial and error, and finally know what my hair loves.
Tips
- If you are going for a radical change this site can be helpful just to see what the colour will look like against your skin tone.
Warnings
- Always wear gloves & protective clothing.
- Dye in a ventilated area, or with an exhaust fan. Less chemicals in your lungs the better.
- Leave your bleach at home!
